Welt-attaching machine.



J. V. ALLEN & P. E. BERTRAND.

WELT ATTACHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1910.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

3 SHEBTSSHEET l.

J. V. ALLEN & F. E. BERTRAND.

WELT ATTAGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1910.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J. V. ALLEN & F. E. BERTRAND.

WELT ATTAGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1910.

1,069,992, Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' J as a? 50 ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN V. ALLEN, OF SOUTH WEYMOUTH, AND FREDERIC E. IBERTRAND, OF SWAMP-SCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OFIPATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WELT-ATTACHING MACHINE.

Application filed March 26, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN V. ALLEN, of South VVeymouth, in the county ofNorfolk, and FREDERIG E. BERTRAND, of Swampscott, in the county ofEssex, both in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, citizens of the UnitedStates, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVolt-Attaching Machines; and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The invention relates to machines for attaching welts to shoes, and moreparticularly to a welt guiding and feeding mechanism which is welladapted for use upon sewing machines such as are employed in securingtogether the welt, upper and insole of welt shoes.

The invention is intended primarily as an improvement in the well knownGoodyear welt and turn sewing machine, although it is not limited in itsapplication to such machine, but may be embodied with advantage in othertypes of machines for sewing or otherwise securing welts to shoes.

Volt sewing machines as heretofore constructed have usually beenprovided with a welt guide arranged to hold the welt against the shoeclose to the point of operation of the stitch forming devices. Theseguides are constructed to allow the welt to move freely through themduring the feed of the shoe, or during the return stroke of the weltguide, in case the guide is mounted to move with the shoe during itsfeed. The welt is therefore liable to be drawn away from the upperduring the return or loop drawing stroke of the needle, so thatincreased tension or strain must be put upon the thread in drawingtogether the welt, upper and insole. It is one of the objects of thepresent invention to avoid this objectionable action of the needle orloop carried thereby upon the welt. One feature of the inventionaccordingly contemplates the provision in a machine for attaching weltsto shoes of means for gripping and holding the welt against forwardmovement through the welt guide. Any suitable means may be employed forthus gripping and holding the welt. In the simplest and most efficientform of the invention which we have de- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Serial No. 551,666.

vised, however, the welt guide is constructed and actuated tointermittently grip and release the welt, the guide being actuated togrip the welt during the return or loop drawing stroke of the needle, sothat the welt is firmly held against movement away from the shoe.

It is customary to so shape the welt guide of welt sewing machines thatthe inner edge of the welt is bent to lie snugly against the upper alongthe outer edge of the sole of the shoe.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for causing theedge of the welt to more closely conform to the shape of the edge of thesole, so that the welt and upper may more readily be drawn tightlyagainst the marginal portion of the sole, and thus a tighter seam besewed.

A further feature of the invention accordingly contemplates theprovision in a machine for sewing or otherwise attaching a welt to ashoe, of means for molding the welt and holding it against the shoe. Forthe sake of simplicity in the construction, and in order to minimize thenumber of parts required, we prefer to so construct the welt guide thatit will operate to mold the welt when actuated to intermittently gripand release it.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved means forfeeding the shoe to secure the progressive attachment of the weltthereto.

A further feature of the invention accordingly contemplates actuatingthe welt guide to intermittently grip and advance the welt and the shoeto which it is attached. By thus feeding the shoe we are enabled toeliminate from the machine the feed point or awl which is usuallyemployed for feeding the shoe, and which operates in the channel inadvance of the channel guide, and interferes more or less with theswinging of the shoe in operating upon shoes having pointed toes. Incase the feed point is retained, as may be found desirable upon someclasses of work, the intermittent gripping and fgeding of the workrelieves the strain upon the feed point, and results in a more accurateand uniform feeding of the work.

The forward feeding of the welt and shoe by engagement with the weltback of the point of attachment to the shoe, also results in a slightlooping or bending of the welt between its point of attachment to theshoe and the point where it is gripped by the welt guide, so that theinner edge of the Welt is looped or puckered somewhat between successiveneedle holes. This is of .advantage, especially in sewing around the toeand other points of curvature along the edge of the sole.

In the simplest and most eificient construction embodying all thevarious features of the invention which we have yet devised, the weltguide is formed in two parts, which are constructed and actuated tointermittently grip and mold the welt and hold it firmly against theshoe during the operation of the stitch forming devices, to then releasethe welt and move in a direc tion opposite to that of the feed, and tothen again grip and compress the welt and feed it and the shoe,preparatory to the next operation of the stitch forming devices. It willbe understood, however, that it is not essential to the featuresrelating to the gripping and holding of the welt, that the welt shouldbe molded or that the feed should be effected by gripping and feedingthe welt, and that it is not essential to the features relating to themolding of the welt that the feed should be effected by gripping andfeeding the welt, although it is preferred to employ a constructionembodying all these features.

The various features of the invention will be readily understood from aninspection of the accompanying drawings, and the following detaileddescription of the machine illustrated therein.

In the drawings Figure l is an end elevation showing the well knownGoodyear turn and welt machine provided with a welt guiding and feedingmechanism em-' bodying all the various features of the pres entinvention in their preferred form; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of themechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is an end elevation partly in sectionshowing the parts illustrated in Fig. 1 on a larger scale; Fig. 4: is adetail view of the channel guide; Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional viewon line 5 5, Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a detail of the welt guide actuatingmechanism; Fig. 7 is a sectional detail on line 77, Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is adetail View of the welt guide with the parts in position to grip andmold the welt; and Fig. 9 is a detail of the front part or section ofthe welt guide.

The machine shown is provided with stitch forming devices similar inconstruction and mode of operation to the stitch forming devices of theGoodyear welt and turn machine above referred to, the curved hook needleof the stitch forming devices being indicated at 1, and the cooperatingdevices being omitted for the sake of clearness.

- attached. prises a rear section and a front section arranged toembrace and support the welt.

The machine is also provided with a back rest 2 similar to the back restof the Goodyear machine, and with a channel guide 3. The channel guideis secured to the lower end of a carrier lever 4 which is mounted on afixed pivot 5, and is operated to move the channel guide toward and fromthe bottom of the channel, by a cam (3 operating upon a roll 7 at theupper end of the lever. The roll is held in engagement with the cam by aspring 8.

The welt guide is formed in two parts, which are moved toward and fromeach other to grip and release the welt, and are reciprocated bodily tointermittently advance the welt and the shoe to which it is As shown,the welt guide com- The rear section comprises an upper plate 9 formedon the lower end of a lever 10,

and a plate 11, provided with a shoulder 12 for engaging the edge of thewelt, and with a projecting lip 13 for underlying the welt.

The plate 11 is adjustably secured upon the plate 9 so that its positionmay be varied in accordance with the width of the welt being used. Thefront section of the welt guide comprises a curved plate 14 formed onthe end of an arm 15 carried by a lever 16. The

g arm 15 is provided with a shank 17 which fits a split socket formed inthe lower end of the lever 16. The arm 15 may be adjusted vertically tobring the plate lat into proper relation to the rear section of the weltguide, and is held in adjusted position by a clamping bolt 18. The frontend of the upper plate 9 of the rear sect-ion of the welt holder isshaped and arranged to enter the groove near the inner edge of the welt,and the front plate or section 14L of the welt guide is so adjusted thatwhen the sections of the welt guide are actuated to grip the welt, theedge of the welt will be bent over the end of the plate 9, as indicatedin F ig. 8. The sections of the welt guide may be so actuated that theywill apply suflicientpressure to the welt to bend and mold the welt sothat it retains or partially retains its shape when the pressure isreleased. When thus molded and shaped, the welt conforms more closely tothe shape of the shoulder or feather along the marginal portion of thesole of the shoe, so that the welt, upper and sole are more readilydrawn together with a resulting increase in the tightness of the seamsewn.

The levers l0 and 16 which carry the sections of the welt guide arepivotally sup ported upon a bolt 19 which is mounted in the forward endof an arm 20 projecting from the feed slide 21. In order that the weltguide may be vertically adjusted to bring the welt into proper positionagainst the shoe, the pivot bolt 19 upon which the levers 10 and 16 arecarried is mounted in an eccentric sleeve 22. This sleeve is providedwith a knurled head 23, and upon loosening the nut 24 on the end of thebolt 22, the sleeve may be readily turned to vary the vertical positionof the work guide. The levers 10 and 16 are operated to move the weltguide toward and from the shoe, and to move the sections of the weltguide toward and from each other, through toggle links 25 and 26connecting the upper ends of the levers. The inner ends of the links 25and 26 are pivotally connected by a bolt 27 which passes through thelinks and carries a cylindrical sleeve 28 engaging a cam slot 29 in alever 30. The lever 30 is pivotally mounted upon the bolt 19, and isprovided at its upper end with a slot 31 which is engaged by a slidingblock 32 carried by a pivot pin 33 at the lower end of a bell cranklever 34. The lever 34 is operated to swing the lever 30 about itspivot, and thus actuate the welt guide, by a cam groove 35 formed in adisk secured to the cam shaft of the machine, and engaged by a roll 36on the inner end of the bell crank lever. The toggle link 26 isconnected to the upper end of the lever 16 by a pivot bolt 37 which maybe adjusted in a slot 38 in the lever to vary the relative movementsimparted to the levers by the toggle links, and to thus regulate thepressure applied to the welt by the sections of the welt guide. Thelevers 10 and 16 are forced in a direction to hold the welt guideagainst the shoe by a spring 39, one end of which is connected to theprojecting end of the pivot bolt 37, and the other end of which isconnected to a pin 40 secured in the arm 20. The forward movement of thewelt guide, 2'. 0., the movement toward the shoe, is determined by anadjustable screw 41 carried by the lever 16, and arranged to engage afixed stop 42 on the arm 20. The feed slide 21 upon which the welt guideis mounted, is reciprocated to feed the welt and shoe, by a cam 43connected with the slide through a lever 44 and connections similar tothe lever and connections for operating the feed slide of the Goodyearmachine above referred to.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the parts are shown in the position which they occupyafter the welt guide has been advanced to feed the welt and shoe, andafter the needle has advanced through the work into position to receivethe loop of thread. At this time the sections of the welt guide firmlygrip the welt, and the welt guide is held against the shoe by the spring39. While the needle is in the work, the cam 35 operates the bell cranklever 34 to swing the lever 30 toward the left. During the first part ofthe movement of the lever 30 the cam slot 29 acts to raise the pivot 27of the toggle links 25 and 26, thus separating the sections of the weltguide so that they no longer grip the welt.

Continued movement of the lever 30 brings the bearing face 45 on theside of the lever against the end of a stop screw 46 carried by the link26. WVhen the lever engages this stop screw the continued movement ofthe lever swings the welt guide away from the shoe, as indicated in Fig.3. While the welt guide is in this position the feed slide 21 isretracted, the welt guide moving freely along the welt. When the feedslide has completed its return movement the cam 35 swings the bell cranklever 34 and lever 30 in the opposite direction, or toward the right.During the first movement of the lever toward the right, the levers 10and 16 which carry the welt guide move with the lever 30, so that thewelt guide is moved against the shoe. When the stop screw 41 engages thestop 42, continued movement of the lever 30. causes the cam slot 29 toforce the pivot 27 of the toggle links downward, thus operating thesections of the welt guide to grip and compress the welt. After theneedle has been retracted to draw the loop of thread through the work,the feed slide is again advanced into the position indicated in Figs. 1and 2. By this advance movement the welt and shoe to which it isattached are fed forward the length of a stitch, and the needle is againadvanced to pierce the work.

In order that the welt may draw freely through the welt guide when theshoe is removed at the completion of the sewing operation, means isprovided for actuating the welt guide to release the welt at thecompletion of the sewing operation. In the construction shown this meanscomprises a switch cam 47 arranged to direct the roll 36 on the bellcrank lever 34 into a depression 48 in the cam groove 35 when the camshaft is turned backward to relieve the tension on the thread, as isusual in Goodyear welt sewing machines. The switch cam 47 is pivoted onthe cam disk in which the cam groove 35 is formed, and is held normallyin such position that its outer surface forms one side of the cam grooveby a spring 49. The switch cam is provided with a laterally projectinglug 50 at its free end, which is arranged in the path of a dog 51 whichis mounted on the end of the bell crank lever 34. The dog 51 is pivotedon the bell crank lever, and is held yieldingly in position against astop 52, by a spring 53. During the sewing operation the dog 51 ridesidly by the lug 50, the spring 53 yielding to allow the dog to pass thelug. When the cam shaft is turned backward at the completion of thesewing operation, preparatory to the removal of the shoe, the dog 51rides under the lug 50, lifting the switch cam 47 so that the roll 36 onthe bell crank lever 34 rides under the switch cam and is directed intothe depression 48. This rocks the bell crank lever and lever 30 in adirection to release the sections of the welt guide from the welt, andmove the welt guide away from the shoe. The welt may now draw freelythrough the welt guide when the shoe is removed and the welt guide isheld in its rearward position where itwill not interfere with theintroduction of a new shoe. WVhen the cam shaft starts forward, the roll36 rides out of the recess 48, and the switch cam returns to its normalposition, where it remains during the sewing operation.

hile it is preferred to employ the specific construct-ion andarrangement of the parts shown and described, it will be understood thatthis construction and arrangement is not essential, and may be variedand modified without departing from the broader scope of the invention.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention, andspecifically described one construction in which it may he embodied,what we claim is 2- 1. A welt securing mechanism, having, incombination, a welt guide comprising two members arranged to form a weltguiding opening curved transversely to the lead of the welt, andmechanism for moving the members toward and away from each other to gripand release the welt during the operation of the welt securingmechanism, substantially as described.

2. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism including a curved hook needle, a welt guide consisting ofmembers arranged to form a welt guiding opening curved transversely tothe lead of the welt, and means for causing the members to grip and holdthe welt during each passage of the needle through the work,substantially as described.

3. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism, a welt guide, and mechanism for actuating the guide tointermittently grip and hold the welt, substantially as described.

41. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism including a needle, a welt guide, and mechanism for actuatingthe guide to grip and hold the welt during each passage of the needlethrough the work, substantially as described.

5. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism, and means for intermittently gripping and holding the weltduring the operation of the sewing mechanism by direct engagement withopposite sides of the welt, substantially as described.

6. A welt attaching machine, having, in combination, mechanism forattaching the welt to a shoe, a welt guide formed in two parts shaped tomold the edge ofthe welt,

and mechanism for actuating the parts to intermittently compress andmold the welt forward of its point of attachment, substantially asdescribed.

7. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism, a welt guide, and mechanism for actuating the guide tointermittently grip and mold the welt, substantially as described.

8. A welt sewing machine, having, in com bination, stitch formingmechanism, a welt guide, and mechanism for actuating the guide tointermittently grip and advance the welt to feed the welt and shoe,substantially as described.

9. A welt sewing machine, having, in combinaticn, a welt guide,mechanism for actuating the guide to intermittently grip the welt, andmeans for actuating the guide to release the welt at the completion ofthe sewing operation, substantially as described.

10. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism, a channel guide mounted in fixed position with relation tothe feed of the shoe, and means for intermittently gripping andadvancing the welt to feed the welt and shoe, substantially asdescribed.

11. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism, a channel guide mounted in fixed position with relation tothe feed of the shoe, a welt guide,

and mechanism for actuating the guide to intermittently grip and advancethe welt to feed the welt and shoe, substantially as described.

12. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism, a channel guide mounted in fixed position with relation tothe feed of the shoe, mechanism for advancing and retracting the guidetransversely of the direction of feed, a welt guide, and mechanism foractuating the guide to intermittently grip and advance the welt to feedthe welt and shoe, substantially as described.

13. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism in cluding a curved hook needle, and a welt guide formed intwo parts movable toward and away from each other to intermittently gripand release the welt during the sewing, substantially as described.

14. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism including a curved hook needle, a welt guide formed in twoparts movable toward and from each other, and mechanism for actuatingthe parts to grip and release the welt and for reciprocating the guideto feed the welt and shoe, substantially as described.

15. A welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism including a curved hook needle, a welt guide formed in two,parts shaped to mold the edge of the welt, and mechanism for actuatingthe parts to intermittently compress and mold the Welt forward of itspoint of attachment, substantially as described.

16. A Welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism including a curved hook needle, a Welt engaging device formedin two parts movable toward and from each other, and mechanism foractuating the parts to grip and release the Welt and for reciprocatingthem to feed the Welt and shoe, substantially as described.

17. A Welt sewing machine, having, in combination, stitch formingmechanism including a curved hook needle, a Welt gripping device, andmechanism for actuating the device to grip and release the Welt and forreciprocating the device to feed the Welt and shoe, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN V. ALLEN. FREDERIC E. BERTRAND. Witnesses:

LAURA M. GOODRIDGE, CHESTER E. ROGERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

